1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass run adapted to be attached to a door frame of an automobile for providing a seal between a door opening portion and an automobile door.
2. Description of Related Art
In one example of conventional sealing structures for providing a seal between a door opening portion and an automobile door having a door sash, an opening trim weather strip is attached to a flange provided in the door opening portion, and a door weather strip is attached to an outer periphery of the door sash. When the automobile door is closed, a tubular seal portion of the opening trim weather strip contacts a protrusion of the door sash, and a tubular seal portion and a seal lip of the door weather strip contact an outer panel of the door opening portion to seal a gap between the door opening portion and the automobile door.
In this case, a door glass raised and lowered inside the automobile door is held with a glass run of which an outer periphery is attached along an inner periphery of the door sash, and is raised and lowered in a groove of the glass run, which has a generally U-shaped cross-section. This glass run provides a seal between the door glass and the door sash.
In side surfaces of the automobile, the glass runs, the door sashes and center pillars are exposed and outstanding around the door glasses so that it has been required to improve the design thereof. In addition, the glass runs exist between the door sashes and the door glasses, and between the center pillars and the door glasses so as to define gaps between surfaces of the door sashes and those of the door glasses, which are less preferable in design.
In order to overcome the above-described problem, as shown in FIG. 1, in a sashless door-type automobile body, an exterior surface of a door sash is removed except for a flange so as to freely raise and lower a door glass 10 above the door belt line of an automobile door 12. With this arrangement, in the side surface of the automobile, only the door glass 10 is visible above the door belt line of the automobile door 12.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, a glass run 14 includes a glass run section 16 adapted to provide a seal between the door glass 10 and a door frame 18, and a trim section 20 adapted to attach the glass run 14 to a flange 22 located in an end edge of the door frame 18 (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2005-247294, for example.). The glass run section 16 has a main body of a generally U-shaped cross-section, which includes an outer side wall 24, an inner side wall 26 and a bottom wall 28, along with an outer seal lip 30 and an inner seal lip 32 respectively extending from tip ends of the outer side wall 24 and the inner side wall 26 obliquely in an interior space of the main body. The outer seal lip 30 and the inner seal lip 32 provide seals against the door glass 10.
The trim section 20 has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and includes a side wall 34 formed integrally with the bottom wall 28 of the glass run section 16, a side wall 36 formed on the side of an automobile body, and a bottom wall 38. Seal lips 40 and 42 are formed in an exterior surface of the side wall 36 for contacting and sealing a door opening portion 43 when the automobile door 12 is closed. And an insert 44 formed of metal into a generally U-shaped cross-section is embedded in the side walls 34 and 36, and the bottom wall 38.
And in order to produce the thus arranged glass run 14, the glass run section 16 and the trim section 20 are simultaneously formed along with the insert 44 linearly by extrusion.
Since the glass run 14 has the metal insert 44, the weight of the glass run 14 is great so that the entire rigidity thereof is increased. As a result, where the glass run 14 is attached to an upper side of the door frame 18 along an outer curved surface thereof, a bending work of the extruded glass run 14 has been previously needed along the curved surface. Therefore, this arrangement is contradictory to weight reduction of automobiles, requires much labor and increases production costs.
And, as shown in FIG. 3, in a glass run 46 including a glass run section 48 adapted to provide a seal between the door glass 10 and a door frame, and a trim section 50 adapted to attach the glass run 46 to a flange 52 located in an end edge of the door frame, the trim section 50 is formed of a thermoplastic resin as a hard material, whereas the glass run section 48 is formed of a thermoplastic elastomer as a soft material (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2014-196051, for example.).
The glass run section 48 has a main body of a generally U-shaped cross-section, which includes an outer side wall 56, an inner side wall 58 and a bottom wall 60, along with an outer seal lip 62 and an inner seal lip 64 respectively extending from tip ends of the outer side wall 56 and the inner side wall 58 obliquely in an interior space of the main body. The outer seal lip 62 and the inner seal lip 64 provide seals against the door glass 10.
The trim section 50 has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and includes a side wall 66 formed integrally with the bottom wall 60 of the glass run section 48, a side wall 68 formed on the side of an automobile body, and a bottom wall 70. Seal lips 72 and 74 are formed in an exterior surface of the side wall 68 for contacting and sealing the door opening portion 43 when the automobile door 12 is closed. Since no insert is provided, the outer side wall 56, the bottom wall 60, the side wall 66, the side wall 68 and the bottom wall 70 of the trim section 50 are formed of a synthetic resin as a hard material.
And, as shown in FIG. 4 in association with one embodiment of the present invention, the glass run 90 includes extruded parts 76 formed by extrusion, and molded parts 78 provided and formed at each end of an extruded part 76 by molding. Each molded part 78 is welded to the end of each extruded part 76 due to heat during a molding step. In order to ensure sealing properties, formability and assembling properties, end parts 80 and corner parts 82 as the molded parts 78 of the glass run 90 are entirely formed of a soft material.
And the bottom wall 70 of the trim section 50 is formed integrally and continuously with the outer side wall 56, and an exterior decorative member 84 is bonded to an exterior side surfaces thereof. The exterior decorative member 84 is formed of a synthetic resin laminated film.
When the glass run 90 is attached to a roof side along an upper side of the door opening portion 43 of an automobile, the glass run 90 is curved to conform to a configuration of an automobile body.
At this time, an upper end side where the bottom wall 70 is formed integrally with the outer side wall 56 is extended, whereas a lower end side is compressed. As a result, wrinkles are generated in a lower end of the exterior decorative member 84 due to compression and peeling off the outer side wall 56. In order to prevent the generation of wrinkles, an upper covering member 86 and a lower covering member 88 are respectively provided along an upper end and the lower end of the exterior decorative member 84.
The upper covering member 86 covers the upper end of the exterior decorative member 84 along with the bottom wall 70 of the trim section 50, whereas the lower covering member 88 covers the lower end of the exterior decorative member 84 along with the outer side wall 56. Each of the upper covering member 86 and the lower covering member 88 has a merely slight thickness. But, it has been strongly requested to remove protrusions from surfaces of the glass run 90 and the automobile body.